After a short 10 hour journey from Cusco to Puno we arrived and scored a top hotel room with Cable so a quick meal and film after hooray.
The morning after we visited the famous "Floating Islands" of Uros on Lake Titicaca.
They are completely made of reeds about 1.5m thick and prove a great place for a wrestling match (soft and bouncy).
Each Island has a man in charge (El Presidente) and they survive entirely from tourism.
Makes you wonder how they made ends meet before the airoplane and the Lonely Planet!
A unique journey a fist glimpse at...

After spending 2 days in Lima, things slowed down considerably in Puno. We flew to Julieca, and then took a "collectivo" (aka a shared mini-van ride) to Puno. We originally planned to stay there for 2 nights, but on the second day, discovered that a general strike was about to take place (and is still ongoing as I write this). We decided to spend the morning visiting the magical floating islands of Uros. These are literally floating islands as they are made from reed stalks that grow in the shallow parts of Lake Titicaca (pronounced...

We made the journey from Arequipa to Puno for two main reasons. 1) We wanted to see Lake Titicaca. [Please insert your own lowbrow humor here] 2) The bus ride from Arequipa straight to Cusco (our next stop) is 11 hours. Spending a night in Puno allowed us to break up our bus time into more reasonable chunks.
We arrived in Puno on Thursday and had no difficulty finding a room and booking a lake tour for Friday. We spent Thursday evening walking around town, and working on our chess skills.
Our tour started at 6:30 Friday morning, when we...

On arrival at Puno in the middle of the night we were met by a tour operator (Migel) who took us to a hotel and arranged a 2 day/1 night tour of Lake Titicaca for us commencing the following day at 6:45am.
We visited a couple of the floating islands and our guide informed us of the history of these islands. They are made from lake reeds and are require to be replenished fortnightly in order to preserve them. At each of these islands the inhabitants had their handicrafts displayed. The second island was larger than the first and had a post...

Of all the tours I've done, of all the "cultural visits" I've been on, the two days to the floating islands of Uros, and the solid islands of Amantaní and Taquille were the most authentic. Sure, there were tourists; this was definitely as stop on the Gringo Trail. However, the people we visited manage to maintain their culture both when tourists are on the islands and long after they leave.
I went to Puno, Peru's port city on Lake Titicaca, from La Paz. It's the jumping off place to visit the islands. I went on a tour, and the first stop...

After leaving Puno and feeling slightly improved, we were on the bus for only 3 hours before we crossed the border into Bolivia and arrived in Copacabana. Our journey hugged Lake Titicaca and the scenary was beautiful! Immediately when you crossed the border you could sense that Bolivia is much poorer than Peru, and it was also interesting to note that the Andean people looked different in Bolivia than they did in Peru - in terms of dress and general facial features.
We settled into our hotel - La Cupola and into the honeymoon suite (ask...

We left La Paz on 14th of May and headed for Peru with five new group members. Shaun from Canada, David and Emma from San Fran, Sophie (English) and Christine (Swiss) left us, and we gained Chris, Tanya, April and Jennifer (all Canadian and all related) as well as Theresa (a police officier and another Canadian!). We also got two new guides, so it was goodbye to Julio (what a legend) and hello to Denise; who is from Venezuala, and Mayra, who is from Ecuador and training to be a tour leader.
Titikaka is the world's highest navigable lake...

The town of Puno is a small port on the shore of Lake Titicaca, 3800m above sea-level. For most people, it is a only a stopping point between Cusco and La Paz, in Bolivia, and as such there is little to do or to see there. However, most people take time to take a boat trip out onto the lake in order to visit the unique Islas Flotantes (floating islands). Made entirely of reeds, bound tightly together, the islands still support a population of approximately 200, although these days the tourist market is their main means of support. Being the...

We finally arrived in Puno on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca, hanging out for a day or so. The water at the dock is this strange algae green colour that made the water look just like the fake grass they use for tennis courts. Pretty funny stuff.
We were planning on taking a boat tour to the Euros floating islands, but we decided against it. Aparently they take you out to these floating reed islands, show you around, let you spend the night with a small village family, watch some traditional dancing and then send you back to Puno. We heard...

Had a couple of days spare before heading up to Iquitos to have a look at the Amazon rainforest, so decided to go down to Puno and Lake Titicaca for a couple of days. Caught the night bus down from Cuzco, which is about 6-7 hours away and an experience in itself.
The bus was pretty flash, with lots of leg room (luckily), but I still didn't sleep much because of the cold. Additionally, Peruvians travelling by bus seem to take it upon themselves to bring whatever they feel like on the bus. In my case the never-ending selection included live...